Clinical Skills Course Update for MS2s
As you embark on the next step in your training, reflect on some of the lessons your Clinical Skills (CS) faculty have tried to impart over the past eighteen months. Remember the privilege patients are giving you by allowing you to be involved in their care; approach your patient interactions with preparation, humility, appreciation, and your full presence. Your gift of time and attention may be your biggest contribution to their care. Use that time to get to know your patients. They are giving you permission to learn about their lives and bodies and expect that you will do so - ask important questions, perform careful physical exams, connect the dots as you use clinical reasoning skills. But also take time for reflection after you see patients. Reflection will help you consolidate your knowledge and allow you to find meaning in even the most challenging encounters with patients and supervisors. Think back to ILCE and recognize the important roles that non-physicians have on the team. Trust and respect your non-physician colleagues, and they will become your advocates, teachers, and partners in patient care. Think back to an early lesson from your interviewing instructors – give voice to your empathy. In their suffering, patients may not experience your empathy unless you articulate it through the methods you’ve learned. Finally, remember to have fun with medicine! Maintain an appreciation for the wonder of bedside medicine – finding the important clue on history, uncovering a classic but overlooked exam finding, making a genuine connection with a patient. Doing this will make the long hours and sacrifices even more worthwhile. There are many more lessons, and fortunately we will have more chances to work together on the wards, clinics, ORs, and more advanced classroom sessions in the years ahead!
Contact Dr. Jaideep Talwalkar, Tracy Yale, or any of your CS faculty if you have other questions, concerns, or suggestions about the CS curriculum.
First Week of Clinical Rotations for MS2s
The Class of 2026 (MS2) will be starting their clerkships on January 2nd, 2024. An exciting time! The school-wide precede will be on January 2nd, 2024 followed by the clerkship specific precede on January 3rd, 2024.
Upcoming Change in Mask Use Requirements in Clinical Environments
Due to increasing levels of influenza and other respiratory viruses circulating in the community, The Yale New Haven Health System will be implementing changes in masking requirements for all in the clinical environment. These changes apply to all students who are in the clinical environment, as well. YNHHS Infection Prevention will be requiring all staff to use surgical masks when caring for patients within the Yale Enterprise starting this upcoming Wednesday, December 20th in accordance with the attached Infection Prevention SOP.
Please see the attached SOP for details on the mask levels and the FAQ for further details on our expectations.
Reporting Concerns About Mistreatment, Harassment, or Bias
At the end of each component of your clerkship blocks, you will have the opportunity to complete an evaluation of your experience on the clerkship. Similar to the courses, we ask about experiences of mistreatment, harassment, or bias. These reports will not be visible to your clerkship directors prior to completing their evaluations of you. The reports are reviewed on a quarterly basis and are shared with the Office of Academic and Professional Development. Clerkship directors and departments are expected to document how they are responding to every incident reported by a student. In collaboration with Dean Robert Rohrbaugh, Dean Illuzzi follows up with the Chairs of the Departments to monitor progress in addressing issues of professionalism and conduct in the learning environment.
There is also a way to report a concern on a real-time basis through the OAPD website and on your MedHub home page. Use this link for real-time reporting. This site also provides a more detailed description of how professionalism concerns are handled at YSM.
You may ALWAYS contact your clerkship/elective director, advisor, or medical education deans if you have a concern that you would like to discuss. We will respect your confidentiality and talk about ways to approach or address issues you may encounter.
Walking Maps
If you need to find your way around the Yale New Haven or Saint Raphael hospitals, walking maps can be found at Yale New Haven Hospital Walking Maps.
If you have any questions about the Clerkship curriculum, please contact the Director of Clerkships, Dr. Shefali Pathy or the Manager of the Clerkships and ATP, Gina Franco.